Time for a Tweak

Ten years after opening Found Kitchen and Social House in Evanston, owner Amy Morton decided it was time for a tweak.“Everything changes,” she observes. “I’ve changed in the last 10 years and so have Evanston and the rest of the world. Now it’s time for Found to change.”

Much of the change centers on the menu. Morton characterizes it as increasingly “flexitarian,” a designation that emphasizes diversity, both in the choice of dishes and in the ways diners can construct their meal. What hasn’t changed is the restaurant’s commitment to locally sourced, top quality ingredients.

ginger braised beets

At the same time, the overall price point is lower. This change, Morton reasons, makes the restaurant more accessible on an everyday basis, which marries well with the rapid rise in the number of people living in and around Evanston's increasingly vibrant downtown. Expect a children’s menu with entrees priced from $5 to $10, Happy Hour options as low as $5, and a dinner menu that tops out at $20, caviar excluded.

artichoke and ricotta flatbread

Executive chef Bradford Phillips is also part of the change. His resume includes Blackbird, the Pump Room and NoMi, restaurants whose demographics are in many ways similar to Found’s.

As for the specifics, Phillips’ current brunch, lunch, and dinner menus feature an array of tempting dishes, among them French toast with spiced peaches and black pepper cream, a quinoa bowl with roasted yam and avocado, crispy skinned chicken thighs with avocado and lime yogurt, mussels with green curry and coconut, fingerling potatoes with smoked trout roe and a citrus crème fraiche, and a flourless chocolate cake with dark chocolate ice cream and a white chocolate shell.

There are times, of course, when "familiar" and "comforting" ace out "interesting" and "unique," so all three menus include a cheeseburger topped with bacon and served with a side of frites. Some things never change, nor should they.